It is always refreshing when science is on your side. For years,
I’ve been talking about the power of laughter for family caregivers. It
may not be the first conversation to have with someone who just received
the call in the middle of the night that something traumatic has happened
to a loved one, but eventually they will smile. And if today’s 12th annual
Fort Lauderdale Fearless Caregiver Conference is true to form, we will be
sharing laughs as well as tears and wisdom with one another. The
truth is that there are some things that will make family caregivers roil
with laughter which non-caregivers could never understand. Another
powerful reason for joining a support group…but that is another rant.

As I mentioned above, statistics are now on my side when discussing
the power of humor for family caregivers. A new study finds that laughing
a lot can actually make you healthier by lowering blood pressure and bad
levels of cholesterol.Dr. Lee Berk, from Loma Linda University,
California, who led a study on the healing power of laughter, said
emotions and behavior had a physical impact on the body. He
concluded that ''the body's response to repetitive laughter is similar to
the effect of'
....continued

Children are usually taught about fire safety and disaster
preparedness in school. Experts in the field, such as firefighters,
teach through demonstrating how a family should safely and quickly
evacuate their house during a fire, or how to seek shelter during a
natural disaster, like a tornado or hurricane. The children are then
encouraged to take the information they have learned and share it among
their family members at home. By practicing in-home fire and shelter
drills enough times, a family can become fairly secure with the fact
that everyone will know a way of getting out of the house or taking
shelter.

However, if you’re among America’s 54 million
caregivers, knowing how to evacuate a loved one or how a loved one can
take shelter during an emergency may not be as easy as just stepping out
a door, or crawling out a window, especially if your loved one has
mobility challenges and physical issues. Not only do you have to
consider how you yourself will get out of the house during an emergency,
but how will your loved one also be able to escape? These are just a few
of the questions that a caregiver must consider in order to arrive at a
much-needed safety plan for their loved one. Once a safety plan has been
created, it is wise to rehearse it, making sure that there are no other
problems that arise during an emergency. It’s also a good idea to
discuss a finalized evacuation plan with other family members who may
not live with you, as well as with neighbors, friends, and any other
personal care attendants that may be a part of the in-home caregiving
team...continued

What to to about Mom or Dad?
Find the Expertise You Need in a Professional Geriatric Care Manager

By Cheryl Smith, MA

You are managing your time pretty well—things are tight and there are
activities you would like to add to your schedule, like a yoga class or
a new hobby, but you just can’t juggle one more thing.

But then
something happens that is about to add a huge responsibility to your
already overloaded schedule – there is a crisis with your elderly parent
or relative. The crisis might involve your mom or dad falling and
breaking a hip, rear-ending another driver, getting pneumonia, or
wandering away and, this time, can’t find their way back home.

How do you find the time to add one more thing to a schedule that is
already full? How do you take time away from your job or taking care of
your own children? You are determined to take care of your parent the
same way that they took care of you, but how? Feeling overwhelmed, or
giving into a meltdown, is not the only alternative.

Don’t get
frustrated; get help to deal with this new complex situation. With more
than 80 percent of elder care (an average 71 hours a week) provided by
family members, an emerging field of geriatric experts known as
professional care managers have sprung up to help....continued

Caretips

Eight Tips to Managing Caregiver Guilt

Guilt is a common feeling in the landscape of caregiving. Guilt can
propel you to be the best you can be…or it can immobilize you.

For caregivers, painful feelings — such as guilt, sadness and anger —
are like any other pain. It’s your body’s way of saying, “Pay
attention.” Just as the pain of a burned finger pulls your hand from the
stove, so, too, guilt guides your actions and optimizes your health.

You have a picture of the “Ideal You” with values you hold and how
you relate to yourself and others. Guilt often arises when there’s a
mismatch between your day-to-day choices and the choices the “Ideal You”
would have made. The “Ideal You” may be a parent who attends all of the
kids’ soccer games. Miss a game to take your dad to the doctor, and you
think you’re falling short.

You may have needs out of line with
this “Ideal You.” You may believe that your own needs are insignificant,
compared to the needs of your sick loved one. You then feel guilty when
you even recognize your needs, much less act upon them. A mother may ask
herself, “How can I go out for a walk with my kids when my mother is at
home in pain?”...continued

Carenotes

I would like to know what do I need to do to apply for an Insurance
for working as a Caregiver.

I have applied for a caregiver
job with a family and they want for me to have insurance just in case
something happens to their loved one while I'm watching them.

Caregiver.com
Support Group Directory. Click here
for information about any caregiver support groups in your area.

Caregivers
need your help. Please add information about your local support
groups to our Support
Group Directory. Include the name of the group, where and when it
meets, city and state and support group leader contact information.

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